Taylor Swift claims she offsets her travel carbon footprint - how does that work?

Taylor Swift has been criticised for her private plane usage, but claims to have bought double the amount of carbon credits needed to offset her flights for the Eras Tour.

Taylor Swift took a 12-hour, 5,000-mile flight this weekend from Tokyo, Japan, to Las Vegas, Nevada, to watch Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce win the Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49ers. It was her latest private jet flight – a travel habit that has gained criticism due to the jet's inevitable release of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. The pop star allegedly produced 138 tons of CO2 emissions in three months while commuting to visit Kelce, Newsweek reported. 

"Swift's carbon emissions are extreme and are polluting the atmosphere," Leah Thomas, author of The Intersectional Environmentalist who studies the intersection between environmentalism and privilege, told BBC Travel. "Carbon emissions are one of the leading causes of the climate crisis, as carbon in the atmosphere warms the planet, which contributes to extreme weather events."

The Grammy Award winner's carbon footprint – the amount of carbon dioxide created via energy use and lifestyle – was originally exposed by Jack Sweeney, a student who tracks celebrities' private jet usage. Sweeney has been (legally) tracking Swift's carbon output as well as that of other celebrities, since flight patterns, even of celebrity-owned private jets, are public information. Sweeney posts this flight information to @SwiftJetNextDay the following day rather than in real time to further ensure legality.

Many of Swift's private jet voyages, Sweeney's tracking has shown, coincided with football games – including a flight to Buffalo, New York, where the musician attended the 21 January Chiefs v Buffalo Bills game, and a 28 January trip to Baltimore, Maryland for the Chiefs v Baltimore Ravens game.

Last week, it was revealed that Swift's legal team sent Sweeney a cease and desist letter in December 2023 stating that his "wrongful and dangerous actions must stop" and threatening legal action against the University of Central Florida student. Swift's team alleged that Sweeney's actions were endangering Swift's safety and that this is a "life-or-death matter". In the letter, Sweeney is being accused of "stalking and harassing behaviour" by Swift's attorney.

Swift has been criticised for her carbon footprint before: her frequent private jet flights caused a study from UK marketing agancy Yard to claim she was the #1 celebrity CO2 polluter in 2022, with emissions claimed to be 1,100 times the amount of the average person. That said, as the Washington Post has noted, the Yard analysis relied on flight data available on Twitter, was not peer-reviewed or verified, and while it tracked celebrity-owned jet flights there is no way of knowing when or whether the owners are on the jets.

Air travel in general is a major creator of CO2 emissions. Aviation accounts for 8% of carbon-related emissions in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. That said, non-stop routes and flying in economy are considered lower-carbon choices compared to private jets. While all air travel creates carbon emissions, private jets produce significantly more per person – at least 10 times more carbon emissions compared to a commercial flight.

The good news for Swift is that "the wealthier you are, the easier it is to be sustainable", Thomas explained. "It's ok to hold celebrities to higher standards, because sustainability is much more accessible to them. Swift could course-correct by blatantly speaking about the climate crisis, promoting sustainable initiatives or donating proceeds of her concerts to environmental organisations."

Swift's publicist told BBC News that she does use carbon offsets to compensate her private jet travel. But how valuable are these in making frequent air travel more sustainable? BBC Travel has reached out to Swift's team for further comment and will update this article if/when we receive a response.

Carbon offsets – including carbon captures such as tree-planting initiatives, since trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air – are purchased to compensate for greenhouse gas emissions. They’re typically purchased by companies to offset the total amount of carbon released into the atmosphere by their business. In Swift's case, her publicist told the AP that she bought double the amount of carbon offsets needed to compensate her travel for the Eras Tour before it kicked off in March – likely enough to also cover the additional mileage she's racked up travelling to see Kelce.

Another type of carbon offset is a fee individuals pay to counter the amount of carbon emitted into the atmosphere, rather than reducing carbon use. Carbon offsets compute the estimated amount of carbon emissions released during an environmentally harmful activity such as a flight and then calculate a fee that will keep an equal amount of carbon from being generated. Typically, carbon offsets invest in environmental projects that reduce carbon emissions elsewhere. That said, there is usually no clear calculation that can specify what exact fee will offset an exact amount of carbon – offsets are rough estimates, and often they overestimate the amount for which the carbon sequestration scheme can compensate. Plus, there's always room for failure: If, for example, forest conservation is used as the carbon sequestration, that forest can then be burnt in a wildfire and ultimately save zero emissions.

"Carbon offsets can counteract otherwise hard-to-eliminate emissions. Many carbon offset projects are highly valuable – money to plant new forests or grow carbon-capturing algae – while others are practically worthless," explained Scott Keyes, air travel expert and founder of Going, formerly Scott's Cheap Flights. An investigation from ProPublica found that many carbon-reducing projects overestimate the impact of their emissions reductions. There are, however, several highly-vetted third-party certifications with carbon offset programs such as The Gold Standard, Verified Carbon Standard and Green-e.

"When Swift flies on her private jet, it isn't her intention to spew tons of carbon. Spewing carbon is an externality (an unintended consequence) of flying, driving, lighting a campfire and millions of other daily activities. Carbon credits matter because they're an attempt to put a price on that externality," Keyes said.

Thomas adds that Swift doesn't need to stop at carbon offsets to make her travel and touring more sustainable: she mentions artists such as Coldplay and Billie Eilish who make sustainability mandatory on their tours by minimising single-use plastics and having composting bins on site.

Carbon offsets for emissions have been criticised by some climate scientists who claim they don't actually reduce the amount of emissions entering the atmosphere. "Carbon offsets are the bare minimum as anyone can offset their flights," Thomas said. "We can have a higher standard for Taylor Swift, whose tour made over a billion dollars."

Beyond carbon offsets, travellers can consciously minimise their carbon footprint by reducing their meat consumption, utilizing public transportation, and booking eco-friendly tourism experiences.

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